Philomela O. Espina
Philomela is a flower spirit and the next rose from The Rose and The Nightingale. She has quite a moral dilemma- Should she allow the Nightingale to follow their destiny and die at her hands, or should she rebel and betray duty? No wonder she hates answering questions. Character Personality Philomela appears quite lonely, with a quiet demeanor and a tendency to keep to herself. She puts in little effort in trying to make friends. This is because she feels like she missed the 'friend making' time period in first year due to illness. She doesn't have an issue with being alone, however. Philomela has a belief that people will be safer and happier if they stay away from her. Maybe because she's covered in thorns, maybe because she's destined to ruin someone. Usually she isn't all that insecure. That is to say, she'll view this fact objectively most of the time rather than as an excuse for misery. She's passionate about the importance of self love. She will get so passionate that if she overhears a dramatic interpersonal problem she will try to convince people to do the right thing for themselves and talk it out or cut off ties if nessecary. Mind you she isn't the type of person who can apply this to herself. She's pretty casual and good at enjoying her own company. When it comes to love, Phila finds it kind of an awkward topic. It doesn't always end well, and she's painfully aware of this. Phila has a large amount of guilt and family shame. She and her family despise their role in leading someone to death for naught. If asked, she'll clam up and if you persist, she'll become irritated. Interests Philomela quite enjoys music as a personal relaxation method and plays the acoustic guitar. She doesn't like playing in front of people because she thinks it is slightly embarassing and private, plus it would be quite distracting to others and herself and rather annoying. Instead she tends to play in her own private spots- in places not usually frequented by students. She likes having secret or private spaces and typically spends her time in places that she knows are not frequented by other students. In the Enchanted Forest she has found a small clearing which she has converted into a rose garden. She goes here whenever she has free time, carrying whatever little addition she's planning next. She does a lot of gardening, another of her favourite hobbies. In this garden she has also converted a hollow tree into a shed type place where she keeps her supplies and chairs. Appearance Phila is pretty short and dainty. She has a very slender neck which she usually keeps uncovered. It looks slightly off, as if it can't hold her head up, although that may simply be because her usual posture has her head droop slightly as if she's tired. She does not have hair per se, but instead thorny stem like things that resemble hair tied into a bun. On occasion she will actually have a flower bloom in it. However having one of her own roses is pretty rare so usually the roses she wears are instead from other plants. Her veins are rather noticeable. Her roses demonstrate her bloody heritage- they are not pure white but also red, resembling osiria roses. Story A Nightingale overhears a student lamenting that a girl won't go out with him because he cannot give her a red rose. Being a romantic, the nightingale goes to search for one. Eventually they come across a rose bush which tells them that the way to get a red rose out of them is to gore themselves on a thorn and sing all night until the white petals turn red. They agree and sing and sing and sing despite bleeding out in terrible pain all night. Their blood dyes a rose red and they die. The student takes the red rose and gives it to the girl who rejects him because it isn't jewels. The student in frustration throws the rose down and declares love a waste of time. Phila's role Phila is basically to facilitate a sacrifice for naught. She doesn't want to be in that position, yet hesitates to declare herself a rebel because there's a likelihood something will happen and the glorious revolution of the fairytale students will end up being for naught. Relationships Family Friends Jessamine Diamandais basically kicked the door down in Phila's lonely little space. Fae are a rude little child but Philo puts up with Jesse anyways. Aquaintances Enemies Romances Phila has rather internalised the message of her story- that love is a waste of time as no matter how noble a sacrifice you make, it won't amount to anything. Outfits Gallery 20160820_123524-1.jpg Wakemeup(cantwakeup).jpeg Notes/Trivia * Philomela means nightingale as well as being a figure in greek mythology who was tortured by their sister's husband before turning into a nightingale. * Espina is the Spanish word for thorn or spine. * Her main rose inspiration is the Osiria rose from which she gets her middle name. This rose was chosen cause of the red and white colour scheme. The parent rose, Snowfire apparently has a reputation for mean thorns which is definitely kind of significant to the story. * Osiria being a hybrid rose also kind of reflects how she's got nightingale blood. * Her mother's name is also a reference to Snowfire- Edurne-Ignacia (Spanish names meaning Snow and fire respectively) * Some of her likes were also inspired by roses- her favourite music genre is Rock n Roll, her favourite drinks are tea and Hot Cocoa and her favourite desserts are Cherry Parfaits. * She's a demigirl Category:Hiddenfolk's hidden folks